Education leaders ask Gov. Bob Riley to cut budget estimates

View full size(Press-Register file)Some education leaders want Gov. Bob Riley to cut back on his budget estimates, saying they don't reflect the financial picture schools districts are seeing.MOBILE, Ala. -- With school systems borrowing money to pay bills, and possibly having to lay off thousands more teachers this summer, some Alabama education leaders are banding together to ask the state to pass a less-rosy budget than Gov. Bob Riley has proposed.

By then, it was nearly impossible under the state's tenure laws for local systems to lay off teachers or others, so they found whatever cuts they could and dipped into their reserves.

Now, the state's proration prevention account and many local savings accounts have been depleted.

"The governor has said we don't have a financial crisis," said Sally Howell, executive director of the Alabama Association of School Boards. "What state does he live in?"

Riley spokesman Todd Stacy said that the governor used realistic numbers from expert sources to prepare his budget. The governor stands behind his numbers, Stacy said, and believes that those revenue projections will come through.

View full size(The Birmingham News/Hal Yeager)"Governor Riley has worked very hard to make sure that Alabama has weathered the economic storm better than most states," Riley spokesman Todd Stacy said. "Because of that, because of the way the governor has handled the state's spending in this recession, Alabama has more resources than a lot of other states." "We'd be foolish to propose a budget based on anything less than the best information," Stacy said. "Governor Riley has worked very hard to make sure that Alabama has weathered the economic storm better than most states. Because of that, because of the way the governor has handled the state's spending in this recession, Alabama has more resources than a lot of other states."

The budget that Riley offered to the Legislature includes $245 million in potential federal money for job training and a 2.42 percent growth in state revenue, which equals $125 million.

"When you look at the allocations," Howell said, "we ought to be jumping up and down" for joy.

But they are not, she said: "We can't stand one more year of proration."

While Riley said that his budget would cause no teacher layoffs, the Alabama Department of Education estimated that schools would need to cut about 3,855 jobs.

Mobile County schools Superintendent Roy Nichols said two weeks ago that his system was at risk of losing about 340 teaching positions. He said Monday that number could reach the 600 mark.

Mobile has already eliminated almost 800 teaching and other positions since the spring of 2008.

Baldwin County schools, which have cut about 500 positions over the last couple of years, could lose another 234, officials have said. Officials there said that if Baldwin voters reject an extra one-cent sales tax this month, 400 more jobs will vanish.

Eleven school systems, including Baldwin, have already borrowed money this fiscal year to stay afloat, and another 37 are expected to do so by the end of September, according to a report presented at the Monday meeting. About half of the state's school systems have less than a month's worth of operating expenses in their savings.

"School systems are lining up like dominoes as to when they're going to run out of money," said Susan Lockwood, executive director with the School Superintendents of Alabama.

The group suggested to the Press-Register editorial board that the Legislature require teachers to pay more for their health insurance, which is just $2 a month for single coverage.

Also, they said, the state may have to reduce the number of school days so that the salaries of superintendents, teachers and all employees could be reduced accordingly.

Alabama just increased its number of required school days from 175 to 180 in 2006, bringing the state up to par with most.